By: Sean Crose
“After his first loss in (ranked) pro,” Vasyl Lomachenko told the media this week ahead of his undisputed lightweight title fight with Devin Haney. “I’m thinking anything is possible in the ring.” The truth is that the man who was once hailed as perhaps the best boxer ever, now has two losses on his résumé, one after another to Orlando Salido and Teofimo Lopez. However, Lomachenko doesn’t seem to care much about the L on his resume.
“Look,” he said, “in my mind, I haven’t lost a single match in professional boxing. That’s why I sleep so well.” While some might see his assertion that he hasn’t lost to Lopez at all, he may have a stronger argument when it comes to losing to Salido (in only his second professional game). he). “If you understand boxing,” he said in his scrappy English, “you saw a situation about Salido… in the match, how many low blows there were. I think I didn’t lose on points.
Fair enough, but does Lomachenko really feel that he should get the jury’s nod after his fight with Lopez? “I’ve said before, the situation is similar with Lopez,” Lomachenko said. “I don’t feel like I’ve lost this war.” While his fight with the bigger, taller and extremely talented Haney isn’t even over yet, Lomachenko was asked about a rematch with Lopez. “I can’t (make it) to 140,” he joked. “Then you ask me about Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.”
Lomachenko was then asked about the possibility of dropping to 126th to face the “Monster” himself, Naoya Inoue. “I forgot how to gain weight,” Lomachenko revealed before admitting that “fighting against top boxers close to our weight class is always fun.” He then went on to praise the Japanese multi-famous artist. “He has strength and is a top boxer,” said Ukraine’s Lomachenko. “He is a world champion. It’s exciting to see boxers who know, respect, and love boxing.”
As for Haney, Lomachenko will face the impressive American on May 20 as the main event of the top-rated Pay-per-view card. If Lomachenko wins, he will likely see people say he has the potential to become the all-time great when it comes to replays. Haney is no easy task, however. Conversely, a loss to Lomachenko at this point in his career might be less surprising than a win by Lomachenko.
